Hay-tedder fork



(No Model.)

0. & 0 A. SILBERZAHN. HAY TEDD ER PORK.

No. 473,243. PatentedApr. 1-9, 1892.

@9Mb0 eo M18 v @l/Wom/m g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES SILBERZAHN AND CHARLES A. SILBERZAHN, OF WVEST BEND,

' WISCONSIN.

HAY-TEDDER FORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 473,243, dated April 19, 1892.

Application filed May 15, 1891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES SILBERZAHN and CHARLES A. SILBERZAHN, citizens of the United States, and residents of West Bend, in the county of Washingtomand in the State of Wisconsin, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Hay-Tedder Forks; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Our invention consists in certain peculiarities'of construction and combination of parts to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings,and subsequently claimed.

I In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of a hay-tedder fork constructed according to our invention; Fig. 2, a rear elevation of the same partlybroken away, and Fig. 3 a horizontal section on line 1 1 of Fig. 1.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents the arm of our tedder-fork; B, the side plates bolted thereto and provided with lateral studs 22, that serve as bearings for spirally-disposed coils o of a two-prong springfork O, and D is a leaf-spring arranged in op: position to said fork.

Broadly considered, the parts thus far de scribed are common in the art to which our invention relates, and therefore we make no claim thereto, except so far as we have improved the construction and arrangement of said parts in the manner to be hereinafter described. v

The side plates B are provided with inward-extended flanges e f,that lip over'opposite sides of the arm A, to thereby strengthen the connection between said plates and bar.

Each plate B is further provided with another inward-extended flange 9 forward of the one f thereon, and held between these latter flanges is the leaf-spring D, the adjacent end of this leaf-spring being turned over at a right angle to come between' the lower extremity of said flange f and still another flange h, extending in from said plate in opposition to the lower end of the arm A, on which the right-angled bend i of said leaf-spring is supported.

The leaf-sprin g D extends up parallel to the arm A for a certain distance and is then bent Serial No. 392,865. (No model.)

' to extend back at an acute angle to said arm and terminated in a compound curve j, the latter extending under the horizontal portion is of the fork 0, this portion of said fork being thus normally held against the lowerend of forward and downward extensionsm of the plates B, the lateral studs 1) or bearings for the fork-coils being arranged on said plate extensions a certain distance above the points of rest for the aforesaid fork.

As shown, the lateral studs 19 of the plates B are made hollow and of gradually-increasing surface in the direction of the spirallydisposed coils of the spring-fork 0; but said studs may be solid and of equal length at all points of their circumference.

The outermost coils c of the spring-fork C have a greater radius than the spirally-disposed coils c, and thus these coils form voln're springs that yield readily to minor obstructions in the path of said fork, while at the same time the strain caused by the resistance of more than ordinary obstructions is gradually taken up by the lateral compression of said springs. V

In practice should the fork 0 meet an obstruction of sufficient resistance the voluted spiral springs, comprising the coils c a, will be compressed, and their winding on the lateral studs 1) will cause the horizontal portion 7a of said fork to turn in-the curve portion j of the leaf-springD and act as a lever to compress this leaf-spring, the upper portion of the latter being free to move outward from the arm A as the compression takes place. The obstruction being passed, the expansion of the leaf-spring D will automatically return the forkC to its normal position, and the voluted spiral springs of this fork will in the meantime expand their full limit.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the arm, side'plates fast on the same and provided with lateral studs, a two-prong spring-fork having connected coils spirally disposed in the direction of the plate-studs and arranged to wind on the latter, the radius of-Veach coil being differ cut from the radii of all the other coils relative to the same stud, and a leaf-spring having a portion thereof impinged against that portion of the fork between the prong-coils, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the arm, side plates fast thereon and provided with lateral studs, a two-prong spring-fork having connected coils spirally disposed in the direction of the plate-studs and arranged to wind on the latter, the radius of each coil being different from the radii of all the other coils relative to the same stud,and a leaf-spring havingits free end in the form of a compound curve that impinges against that portion of the fork between the prong-coils, substantially as setforth.

3. The combination of the arm, side plates fast on the arm and provided with downward and forward extensions having lateral studs thereon, a two-prong spring-fork having coils engaging the studs and that portion thereof between the coils opposed to the extensions of the side plates below said studs, and a leafspring in direct opposition to the coil-connecting portion of the fork, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the arm, side plates fast on the arm and provided with flanges e f g h and extensions m, the latter having lateral studs thereon, a spring-fork having coils arranged on the studs, and a horizontal portion between the coils normally at rest against said side-plate extensions below said studs, and a leaf-spring having an angled end supported on said arm between the plate-flanges f g 71., extended up, then bent back at an acute angle, and terminated atits free end ina curve opposed to the coil-connecting portion of the fork, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands, at Vest Bend, in the county of Washington and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES SILBERZAI-IN. CHAS. A. SILBERZAI'IN.

Witnesses:

JOHN D. SILBERZAHN, LOUIS F. SILBERZAHN. 

